Cornell College 'Dream Team' headed to Hall of Fame

From Cornell College:

MOUNT VERNON - Cornell College's 1947 wrestling team, which claimed both NCAA Division I and AAU national championships during that historic season, will be inducted into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa Saturday, April 16 at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo.

A reception is set for 3 p.m. The banquet begins at 4 p.m., followed by the induction ceremony at 5 p.m.

Cornell will host Coach Paul K. Scott's “1947 Dream Team” for a day of celebration with events on campus April 16 prior to the team's departure for Waterloo. Current head coach Mike Duroe will provide a tour of the Meredith Wrestling Complex at 10:45 a.m. A brunch for the 1947 team and current Cornell wrestlers will be held at 11:15 a.m. in the lobby of Kimmel Theatre. The honorees will get a chance to meet friends of the wrestling program in a brief reception at 12:45 p.m. in the Paul K. Scott Alumni Center in Rood House.

The 2011 Hall of Fame Class includes former NCAA champions Bill Zadick (Iowa), Doug Schwab (Iowa), Jason Smith (Iowa State) and Joe Scarpello (Iowa). Cornell's 1947 team was chosen by the selection committee as the inaugural team inducted into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame, established in 2002 to honor the people who have made an impact on the sport on a national level, or who have done extraordinary work in the state of Iowa.

“The addition of the first Hall of Fame team makes this induction special,” said Kyle Klingman, Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. “All the inductees have contributed to Iowa's unique wrestling heritage.”

Cornell, with an enrollment of 415 male students in 1947, is the smallest college ever to win an NCAA Division I wrestling team title. The Purple – soon to be known as the Rams – became the first Iowa college to capture the coveted national title and were the first to win the official team championship outside the state of Oklahoma.

Cornell crowned two individual champions and placed in six of the eight weight classes at the 1947 NCAA Championships in Champaign, Ill. The Purple ran away with the team crown, outdistancing runner-up Iowa State Teachers by a 32-19 margin.

Dick Hauser won the 121-pound title, becoming the first freshman ever to claim an NCAA crown. Lowell Lange went on to take the 136-pound championship, his first of three NCAA titles. The Purple also picked up all-America finishes from Rodger Snook (second at 145), Leo Thomsen (third at 128), Fred Dexter (third at 165) and Dale Thomas (third at 175), the team's lone senior starter. Rounding out the team's tournament lineup were Kent Lange (155) and Al Partin (heavyweight).

“It took a while for me to understand what we really had in the room,” coach Scott told Mike Chapman in the 1997 Cornell Report. “But I think the wrestlers knew. I think they had the feeling this would be something special.”

Two weeks after celebrating their team victory at the NCAAs, the Cornell wrestlers headed west by train to San Francisco to compete at the 1947 AAU National Tournament. The Purple proved the NCAA title was no fluke and claimed the AAU team crown with 17 points; perennial power Oklahoma State took second with 12 points. Lowell Lange and Thomas won individual titles, while Snook and Hauser both finished second.

Cornell rolled through the 1947 season with a 12-0-1 dual-meet record, outscoring the opposition by comfortable margins. Among their 12 victims were Illinois (king of the Big Nine), Iowa State (champion of the Big Six) and Lehigh (pride of the East). Cornell's lone dual blemish came in a 12-12 tie with Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls.

“We had standing-room only crowds,” said coach Scott. “Students would start camping out in front of the gym at noon and build fires on the sidewalk to keep warm. The gym only seated 1,000, but it would be packed all the way to the very top. They hung from the rafters, literally.”

Coach Scott compiled a 56-8-1 dual mark at Cornell from 1941-50. He coached 16 all-Americans and four national champions during his stay on the Hilltop.